FREEA LEAP OF FAITH: MEMOIR OF AN UNEXPECTED LIFE EBOOK

Queen Noor | 480 pages | 04 Mar 2004 | Orion Publishing Co | 9780753817568 | English | , A light in the desert | Books | The Guardian

Born in America in as Lisa Halaby, Noor came from a wealthy, well-connected family and was part of Princeton's first co-ed class. Her father's aviation business produced a chance meeting with King Hussein inand a year or two later Noor realized the king was courting her. He was 41, she was The rumor mills buzzed: was she the next Grace Kelly? Before long, the king renamed her Noor "light" in Arabicand she converted to Islam. They were married A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life the summer of From this point on, her story is mostly his, mainly covering his attempts to broker peace in the . There are meetings with Arafat, Saddam Hussein, American presidents and other leaders. Noor details Hussein's struggles to create Arab unity and his vision of peaceful coexistence with Israel. Her own activities—developing village-based economic self-sufficiency projects and improving 's medical, educational and cultural facilities—take second place to her husband's struggles on the world stage. And while she occasionally acknowledges her domestic difficulties, Noor is careful not to allow personal problems to become any more than asides. Her pleasing memoir ends with the king's death after his struggle with cancer, although readers may suspect that this smart, courageous woman will remain a world presence for years to come. On sale Mar. Forecast: The legions of royalty fans will clamor for this long-awaited memoir, and with the queen's appearances on Good Morning America and Larry King Livean excerpt in this month's Vogue and ubiquitous reviews, it should draw readers. Our apologies to Sontag and Marcus. View Full Version of PW. Buy this book. Show other formats. Discover what to read next. PW Picks: Books of the Week. The Big Indie A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life of Fall Black-Owned Bookstores to Support Now. Children's Announcements. [Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life] |

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Leap of Faith by Queen Noor. Leap of Faith is the dramatic and inspiring story of an American woman's remarkable journey into the heart of a man and his nation. Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby joined the first freshman class at Princeton to accept women, graduating in with a degree in and urban planning. Two years later, while vis Leap of Faith is the dramatic and inspiring story of an American woman's remarkable journey into the heart of a man and his nation. Two years later, while visiting her father in Jordan, she was casually introduced on the airport runway to King Hussein. Widely admired in the Arab world as a voice of moderation, and for his direct lineage to the prophet Muhammad, Hussein would soon become the world's most eligible bachelor after the tragic death of his wife. The next time they met, Hussein would fall headlong in love with the athletic, outspoken daughter of his longtime friend. With eloquence and candor, Queen Noor speaks of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride in the royal court, of rebelling against the smothering embrace of security guards and palace life, and of her own successful struggle to create a working role as a humanitarian activist in a court that simply expected Noor to keep her husband happy. As she gradually took on the mantle of a queen, Noor's joys and challenges grew. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, she gave birth to four children. Meshing the demands of motherhood with the commitments of her position often proved difficult, but she tried to keep her young children by her side, even while flying the world with her husband in his relentless quest for peace. This mission would reap satisfying rewards, including greater Arab unity and a peace treaty with Israel, and suffer such terrible setbacks as the Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. Leap of Faith is a remarkable document. It is the story of a young American woman who became wife and partner to an Arab monarch. It provides a compelling portrait of the late King Hussein and his lifelong effort to bring peace to his war-torn region, and an insider's view of the growing gulf between the United States and the Arab nations. It is also the refreshingly candid story of a mother coming to terms with the demands the king's role as a world statesman placed on her family's private life. But most of all it is a love story — the intimate account of a woman who lost her heart to a king, and to his people. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published March 9th by Miramax Books first published November 1st A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life Details Original Title. Noor of Jordan. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Leap of Faithplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Nov 25, W rated it really liked it Shelves: biography. King married four times. After the death of his third wife in an air crash,his fourth wife was the former Lisa Hallaby,an American woman with an Arab father. She changed her name and her religion and became Queen Noor of Jordan. This is a highly readable account of her years with King Hussein,palace intrigues, politics and war in the turbulent Middle East. King Hussein travelled the world frequently,in his quest for Middle East peace. She describes her encounters with plenty of worl King Hussein of Jordan A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life four times. She describes her encounters with plenty of world leaders. Jordan would find itself under a lot of pressure during the First Gulf War in A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life she describes those days. King Hussein died in Life A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life change for Queen Noor. Prince Hasan,the king's brother was the designated crown prince but shortly before his death,King Hussein appointed his son Prince Abdullah, the current king to succeed him. A good deal of the later part of the book is taken up with Queen Noor voicing her displeasure at Princess Sarvath,Prince Hasan's Pakistani wife who she says was already preparing to become queen. Queen Noor's son Prince Hamza was named crown prince at the last moment by his father. In an ironic postscript,King Abdullah would reverse that decision and appoint his own son Prince Hussein to succeed him! View all 4 comments. Sep 09, Joanne rated it it was amazing. Psychologists assert that conflict resolution involves "perspective taking", that is, seeing the word through another's eyes. I was fascinated to read Queen Noor Al Hussein's whose name was given to her by her husband King Hussein of Jordan when they married - it means "light of Hussein" account of her 20 year marriage, which spanned two decades of turmoil in the Middle East. Her heritage is both Arab and European. Her vantage Psychologists assert that conflict resolution involves "perspective taking", that is, seeing the word through another's eyes. Her vantage point for events in the region was , Jordan and Aqaba - also in Jordan and bordering Israel. Her memoir weaves together history, political commentary, and the richness of family life. While I won't assert that her perspective on politcal and social A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life in the region is the "right" one indeed, there can be no single "right" perspective, in my viewher unique experience is told with objectivity and compassion. Her account of Hussein's monarchy is also a story of a dedicated peacemaker, who became King when he was just 17 years old. Their influence A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life the globe, and Queen Noor's devotion to her adopted country's culture, education, A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life care and children is inspiring. Oct 14, Jane rated it really liked it. Reading this book forced me to reconsider my opinion of the Camp David accords and the participants there. I have come to think of Carter, Begin, and Sadat as heroes Sadat going on to sacrifice his life for his decision and to consider the Jordanian position made me sadly aware of how superficially I understand the complexities of the whole mideast situation. She presents a strong argument for a balanced approach in the mideast and shows that the US often favors Israel unfairly over Arab state Reading this book forced me to reconsider my opinion of the Camp David accords and the participants there. She presents a strong argument for a balanced approach in the A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life and shows that the US often favors Israel unfairly over Arab states. Her husband's struggles on behalf of peace are well documented. The recent Nobel Peace Prize to Obama as one who approaches the Muslim world with open arms makes more sense in view of her views. On a more personal level I certainly admire the way this young woman bravely threw herself into a marriage with a man who already had 8 children and 3 previous wives, 2 alive, a man very much in the public eye in a very dangerous area of the world. Her conversion to Islam strikes me as real, though her previous religion commitment, Christian Science, does not seem to have been highly developed. I don't envy her any of the personal sacrifice she made to keep her marriage intact. A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life of curiosity I googled her eldest son to verify the impression I had, correct, that her step-son Abdullah, now King of Jordan, has broken is promise to his father to name Noor's first son Hamzah as his successor in favor of his own son. I'd like to know her true reaction to his decision to make that very public unfaithful? This decision made since the book was published. Also, I wonder how much of this public version of her marriage is accurate. I had the feeling she really tones down her feelings of unhappiness and frustration, which merited about two sentences. Hussein cannot have been an easy man to live with, and he was lucky to have Noor's loyalty. I'm glad I read the book, but it left me wanting to read the unedited version. View 2 comments. Apr 01, Revel rated it it was amazing Shelves: memoir. I remember when King Hussein passed away and being mesmerized by his American wife. This is her story and it's an amazing one. The book is really a tribute to her husband, a love song in a sense. I loved learning not only about her journey as Queen Noor and marriage to the King of Jordan, but the historical events that they were so involved in. It's always an eye opening experience to hear another perspective such as the Gulf War than what we hear on the news here in the States. I also A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life I remember when King Hussein passed away and being mesmerized by his American wife. I also thought the book was extremely well written. Jan 07, April rated it it was amazing. I had not realized to what extent these memoirs would actually provide a historical, and yes, to some degree, subjective prospective of the crisis in the Middle East. Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor

Sign up for our newsletters! I first met my future husband through the lens of a camera. I was standing with my father on the tarmac the airport in Amman, Jordan, when King Hussein strolled over to greet us. Never one to hold A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life, my father thrust his camera into my hands. Mortified, I nonetheless dutifully took the photograph, which caught the two men standing side by side, with the King's eldest daughter, Princess Alia, in the background. Afterward my father and the King exchanged a few words. Then King Hussein called his wife, Queen Alia, over to meet us. It was the winter ofand my father had asked me to join him on a brief visit to Jordan, where he had been invited to attend a ceremony marking the acquisition of the country's first Boeing My father, , a former airline executive and head of the Federal Aviation Administration, was chairman of the International Advisory Board for the Jordanian airline. He was also in Amman laying the groundwork for a pan-Arab aviation university, an ambitious project aimed at reducing the region's dependence on foreign manpower and training. This undertaking, still in its infant stages, was the brainchild of King Hussein, my father, and other aviation dreamers in the Middle East. Since I was at loose ends, having recently completed a job in , I welcomed an opportunity to travel to Jordan, which I had visited briefly for the first time earlier that year. Another trip to this part of the Middle East would bring me back to the land of my ancestors and, I hoped, reconnect me with the Arab roots of my Halaby family. I distinctly recall my first impressions of Jordan. I had been en route to the United States from , where I was working for a A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life urban planning firm. From the window of my aircraft, I had found myself spellbound by the serene expanse of desert landscape washed golden by the retreating sun at dusk. I was overwhelmed by an extraordinary sensation of belonging, an A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life mystical sense of peace. It was spring, a magical season in Jordan, when the winter-browned hills and valleys turn green from the winter rains, and wild anemones spring from the earth like red polka dots. Oranges, bananas, strawberries, tomatoes, and lettuces were being sold along the road through the lush fields and orchards of the Jordan River Valley, and city families from the high, cool Amman Plateau were picnicking along the warm shores of the Dead Sea. There was a warmth and joy in everyone and everything I saw, and I was entranced by the delightful harmony of past and present, of sheep grazing in fields and empty lots adjacent to sophisticated office buildings and state-of-the-art hospitals. I remember in particular the sight of students walking in the open fields at the edge of Amman, textbooks in hand, completely absorbed in their studies for the Tawjihia general government exam that Jordanians must take in the final year of high school. I knew from looking at maps how close Jordan was to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, but I had not fully understood it until I stood on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea and looked across at the ancient city of Jericho on the occupied West Bank. Jordan, in fact, had a longer border with Israel than any other country; it ran some miles from Lake Tiberius or the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Despite the enduring beauty of the landscape, World War II, three Arab-Israeli wars, and countless border skirmishes had left Jordan and Israel's cease-fire line—a sacred tract of land where the prophets once walked—riddled with land mines. My knowledge of Jordan then was limited to what I had read in newspapers or picked up in conversations, but I was aware of King Hussein's unique position in the region. He was a pan- Arabist with a deep understanding of Western culture, a consistent political moderate, and a dedicated A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life of the Nonaligned Movement. The Jordan I visited for the first time in early was a fascinating blend of modernity and tradition. The Emirate of Transjordan was founded in and became the independent Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan in The country had been transformed by King Abdullah, its founder, and then by his grandson, King Hussein, and had steadily developed into a modern state. Having lost its historic access through Palestine to the commercial seaports of the Mediterranean due to the creation of Israel, Jordan A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life developed Aqaba as a port for traffic on the Red Sea and beyond to the Indian Ocean. When I first came to know Jordan, the government was initiating an ambitious overhaul of the country's telecommunications. At the time it would take hours to call within Amman, and the capital did not even have international direct-dialing. Birds alighting on the system's copper wires could cut telephone connections, but soon there would be a state-of-the-art network of telephone services linking the country in even its most remote areas. Smooth new roads had been built, mostly from north to south, to complement the traditional trade routes west through Palestine. You could easily drive, as I did, from Jordan's northern border with Syria all the way to Aqaba on the modern Desert Road. Traveling through the desert I saw nomadic Bedouin tending to their livestock, and children darting in and out of the distinctive black goat-hair tents known as beit esh-sha'ar. As day faded into night, I was transfixed by the rosy golden glow of the setting sun on the A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life hillsides, where herds of sheep looked almost iridescent in the waning light of day. The Desert Road was the fastest and most direct road to the south, but my favorite route was the scenic Kings' Highway, which followed the ancient trade routes. The Three Wise Men are thought to have traveled at least part of the way to Bethlehem on the Kings' Highway, and Moses used it to lead his people toward Canaan. Alternating between the two Nikon cameras I wore constantly around my neck, I took photograph after photograph of Mount Nebo, near where Moses is said to be buried, and of the magnificent mosaics I saw in nearby churches, just off the Kings' A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life. Earlier civilizations kept the dirt track cleared of stones to hasten the passage of donkeys and camel caravans laden with gold and spices, and A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life Romans paved sections of the Kings' Highway with cobblestones to allow travel by chariot. Evidence of ten thousand years of history is scattered along or near the Kings' Highway, from striking plaster neolithic statues with darkly lined eyes, the oldest representations of A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life human form, to the Iron Age capital of the Ammonites, Rabbat-Ammon, which forms the nucleus of Jordan's present-day capital, Amman. The archaeological treasures I saw in Jordan during this early visit were stunning, among them the classical walled city of Jerash in the hills of Gilead, with its colonnaded streets, temples, and theaters. Lakes once covered the eastern desert, where fossilized lions' teeth and elephants' tusks can be found in the sand. A few hours to the south lies the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, carved into multicolored sandstone cliffs. Hidden to the Western world for years until Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt stumbled on it inPetra is entered through a mile-long, narrow Siqa natural gorge that cuts through the cliffs to emerge into a breathtaking marvel of shrines, temples, and tombs carved into the stone. It has a palette of natural colors and designs that no artist could duplicate, ancient caves and monuments whose floors and walls blaze with swirls of red, blue, yellow, purple, and gold veins of rock. On that first trip, I explored Amman on foot. Shepherds crossed the downtown streets with their flocks, herding them from one grassy area to another. They were such an ordinary part of life in Amman that no one honked or lost their patience waiting for the streets to clear; animals and their minders had the right of way. I wandered through the marketplace admiring the beautiful inlaid mother-of-pearl objects—frames, chests, and backgammon boards—as well as the cobalt blue, green, and amber vases known as Hebron glass. Amman looked classically Mediterranean with its white limestone buildings and villas ranging over and beyond the seven fabled hills that Roman general Ptolemy II Philadelphus had conquered in the third century B. In my room in the Inter-Continental Hotel, situated on a hill between two valleys, I lay awake each morning in the predawn stillness, listening to A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life call to early morning prayers, Al Fajr. I was completely captivated by the rhythmic sound of the muezzin calling to the faithful as it echoed off the surrounding hills. Jordan's capital was peaceful and calm, so different from the growing restiveness I had witnessed in the last months of my job in Tehran. On that fateful day when my father introduced me to King Hussein on the tarmac, a dense cluster of people surrounded the monarch: members of his family, the Royal Court, and government officials, including the CEO of the Jordanian airline, Ali Ghandour, an old friend of my father who had invited us to the ceremony. A lifelong aviator, the King was celebrating an exciting step forward for his beloved airline, which he considered a vital Jordanian link to the world. No doubt he simply longed to head for the cockpit of the country's first and take off. Instead he was surrounded by courtiers, officials, guards, and family members. It was as if an invisible string were holding them all together; when the King moved, the entire group would sway with him. As I watched, I was struck by the way the King never lost his composure or his smile, despite the overwhelming noise and confusion. For many years I was reminded of that day at the airport by the photograph my father had asked me to take. During my engagement and after I married, I kept it in my office, still in the photo shop's simple paper frame. Sadly, it was lost more than a decade ago, when I asked to have a copy made. I keep hoping that it will fall out of a book or show up in a desk drawer; it is not often that one has a memento of the very first moments spent with someone who would become the most precious part of one's life. That short stay in Jordan ended with lunch at the King's seaside retreat in Aqaba, which had an appealing simplicity. Instead of living in an imposing vacation palace, the King and his family resided in a relatively modest beach house facing the sea; guests and A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life family members were housed in a series of small, double-suite bungalows that made up the rest of the royal compound. The King was traveling at the time but had asked Ali Ghandour to "take my good friend Najeeb to lunch in Aqaba. I listened intently, asking many questions, fascinated by the complex political events of the region. Aqaba was a lovely spot, but our sojourn in Jordan was nearing its end. Soon I would be back in New York, hunting for a job in journalism. I never imagined that I would be returning to Jordan just three months later, nor did I have any inkling of how fateful that return would be. Perhaps I should have taken more seriously a curious prediction made on one of my last evenings in Tehran, just a few months earlier. At the end of a farewell dinner at a restaurant in the city center, an acquaintance at the table had told my fortune in the traditional Middle Eastern way, by reading my coffee cup. He swirled the thick grounds, turned over the cup, flipped it back, and studied the patterns within. I first learned the history of my family when I was six years old in Santa Monica, California. One day, in my parents' bedroom overlooking the ocean, my mother told me about my Swedish and European ancestry on her side of the family and my Arab roots on my father's. I remember sitting there alone after our conversation, staring out the window at the limitless horizon of the ocean. It was as if my world had suddenly expanded. Not only did I have a new sense of identity; I felt connected for the first time to a larger family and a wider world. To my mother's long-standing frustration, I was most intrigued by my Arab roots, but how could my mother's hardworking, hardy forebears compete in my imagination with the dashing brothers Halaby? My Arab grandfather, Najeeb, and his older brother, Habib, were only twelve and fourteen when they had sailed steerage from to Ellis Island with their mother, Almas, and younger siblings. They hailed from the Syrian city of Halab, or , a great cultural capital and center of learning in the Arab world. My grandfather lived very briefly in the scenic riverside village of Zahle, , before joining the family in Beirut for its voyage to the New World. Stored in their oversize carpetbags were oriental rugs, damask fabric, copperware, and jewelry—fine wares from the old country to sell and trade while they adjusted to a new life. The Halaby boys barely spoke English and had no contacts, but they turned out to be as shrewd as they were charming. They took their carpetbags to the summer resort village of Bar Harbor, Maine, where Najeeb met and beguiled Frances Cleveland, the pretty young wife of President Grover Cleveland. The letters of introduction the First Lady gave the young Arab ensured the brothers' initial success. Habib stayed in New York to work in the import-export business, while Najeeb moved on to in pursuit of oil and cotton money. Darkly handsome, gallant, and exotic in socially conservative , Najeeb met and married interior decorator Laura Wilkins, the daughter of a local rancher, in Together they founded Halaby Galleries, which combined his import-export skills with her love of art and decorating. Their business catered to the fashionably rich of Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth. It was such a huge success that when and his partner, Al Neiman, doubled the size of their department store in downtown Dallas in the mid- s, they invited Najeeb and Laura Halaby to rent the top two floors to house the Halaby Galleries. More than half a century ago, that farsighted troika of Neiman, Marcus, and Halaby created a center for the luxury trade in downtown Dallas. Perhaps this entrepreneurial instinct was a family trait. Camile, Habib and Najeeb's younger brother, was equally enterprising, though in a less conventional way. His mother—my father's grandmother, Almas, who barely spoke English—had seen an advertisement in The New York Times offering a reward to the person who recovered a sunken dredge full of gold from the Atrato River in the tropical jungles of a remote country called Colombia. The Choco Pacific Gold Mine Company was in dire financial straits due to the accident, and its only hope was to salvage the gold. Speaking not a word of Spanish, Camile arrived in Colombia and gamely made his way into one of the least hospitable rain forests in the world, crossing from the A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life city A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life Barranquilla through the jungles of the Darien Peninsula.

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